


What if we fall

by kohideto



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: AU, F/M, Romance, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-11
Updated: 2019-09-11
Packaged: 2020-10-14 09:43:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,758
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20598701
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kohideto/pseuds/kohideto
Summary: A trip went as expected, nice, quiet and fullfilling. What you weren't expecting was the hand holding yours through it.





	1. 最初のコーヒーが大好き

**Author's Note:**

> I guess posting here was more reliable than keeping it in a onenote book.
> 
> This is a completely self indulgent story I wrote for my best friend a few months ago so idk.

You loved driving. The feeling of driving away from the same place, same people, same situations just brought the peace your mind needed. 

Your job sent you away for a project at a nearby city, it took around 4 hours in train to get there, so you offered to simply drive up there, it wasn’t that far anyways.  
“Are you sure you want to drive?” Your boss asked somewhat concerned.  
“It’s no problem, I swear. I really enjoy driving”. It took a couple more tries and the most reassuring smile you could muster, until your boss finally agreed and authorized you used a company car to drive the few miles it took to Jinhae Gu.

The trip took a surprising two and a half hours of calm driving, following the road hidden between heavy trees, all turning to warm colors to officially welcome the fall, crunching sounds from your tires going over the fallen leaves complementing the soft hum of your music. You felt content.

Your company rented a cozy apartment for you, a one bedroom flat with the cutest mint green themed kitchen and the comfiest sofa, ready to be used to binge watch anime marathons in your free time. The flat was conveniently on the third floor of a coffee shop "I know you're a coffee junkie, so we got you a nice place in the same building as an old coffee shop" the HR team assured. How considerate. 

You settled quickly enough, going around the wide complex, enjoying a nice view to Old Jinhae, usually painted soft pink for cherry blossoms, now a beautiful gloomy fall scenery. Feeling chilly enough, you decided to come down and take a look at the shop.

The coffee shop was just how any other coffee shop written out of a fanfiction or indie movie would look like. Intellectual looking people typing away in their overpriced MacBooks, with their triple shot cups of Latte, wrapped up in earth toned parkas, beanies and scarves. You loved it.

Coming to Korea had been challenging, culture shock hit you hard with so many honorifics, dialects and particles, but you were used to it now after 2 years, easily reading over the menu to decide on a drink. But you couldn't quit the habit of muttering to yourself in english “What do I want… what do I want…” 

“You need any help with that?” A deep raspy voice asked. You turned your attention to see a pair of hazel eyes looking back at you, with a toothy smile, showing sharp canines and eye brows drawn up with curiosity.

"Oh I'm just re--" Wait, was he..? "you speak english?" You ask dumbly, because... he just did. The barista smiled "So that's what it's called? I thought I was speaking parcel tongue like Harry Potter this whole time" Smart ass, nice. "I do, would you like a suggestion?" He flashed another smile, wider now that your eyes were on him. He was wearing a white button up with a little orange bowtie and apron to match. Cute.

"That's okay, I'll have a hazelnut latte please, grande" He kept smiling 

"Nice choice, that's my favorite, actually. Name?" He looked at you with the same wide eyes, all attention on you. "Hyeo- uhh, Vivian." You were used to your Korean name already Kim HyeonSoo, but it felt weird right now, as if it wasn't really yours. "Vivian, that's cute. I'm Vernon, your latte is coming right up" He chirpily turned to make your drink, his smile never faltering. You pretended you didn't hear him call your name cute.

"What brings you around, I don't think I've ever seen you here before" It was incredible how coordinated he was, balancing the equipment and cups while still turning around. You start chatting, explaining how your company sent you to attend several business conferences here in Jinhae, and learning he was born in New York, but came to Korea to study and stays with his grandma. The building belongs to his family and he's only helping over for now until he moves out to continue his studies in a different city. 

He's easy to talk to, but then again so are you, so in the short minutes it took for him to make your coffee, you realize you share a lot in common. "And where are you staying?" He had taken a self-authorized break, making himself a cup of hazelnut latte, bringing some carrot cake over to sit across from you at one of the tables.

"Here, actually. The company rented the flat in the third floor of the building for me this week" You noticed he had some foam on the corner of his mouth, then seeing his eyes light up at your answer "Oh so we're neighbors! Like, floor neighbors, if that's a thing? I live on the second floor" Vernon said excitedly, you were smitten by him already. He was really cute he would listen intently to everything you said and asked you a lot about your life and hobbies. 

"HANSOL-AH" Vernon froze "What do you think you're doing young man?" A woman resembling slightly of him came out of the kitchen, Vernon's discarded apron in her hand and a worried looking boy behind her.

"Shit that's my grandma, I gotta get back to work" He quickly said "but I'll be around here, let me know if you need anything okay?"

You stayed there for a little while, checking your emails and schedule to make sure you knew when to be ready for the first meeting, and made a list of what you needed to pick up.

As you were preoccupied you weren't aware of the lingering eyes of a certain barista, up until you heard something crash. --"Yah Hansol-ah be careful! You stained my shoes!" The tall boy from earlier pouted at a very flustered Vernon who for once wanted to look anywhere else but at you.

"Kim Mingyu would you stop yelling?!" He whispered yelled at the other boy who was now cleaning after the mess "I'm sorry okay I didn't see you, I can pay for the cleaning job" He grumbled while turning to re-make the drink he half spilled over his whinny coworker.

"This wouldn’t've happened if you didn't stop staring a—AH BRAT!" It sounded like he was either pinched or stepped on, either way the tall boy's reaction was too exaggerated for either of those, but you only managed to see Vernon blush and glance your way once. You smiled at him but he quickly averted his face down, you didn't miss the small smile forming.

You decided you were getting everything done today, so you could relax tomorrow, before you had to go to that first meeting on Monday. You left with a little wave to Vernon, seeing him mouth “bye neighbor” at you and turning to make the drink.

By 4 PM, you were done with your list. Going to the super market for groceries to last you at least the next 4 days, getting some little trinkets to help you feel a little more at home at your temporary apartment and even dropping by to a cute flower shop right next to the coffee shop building. The girl working there had greeted you very kindly, immediately spotting you as a new comer and even gifting you a little succulent plant as a welcome gesture “it doesn’t really need much” she had said, holding the hand painted pot eye leveled “it just needs a little bit of water and love, kind of like a person would! Or a normal one, that doesn’t really apply to my boyfriend, with the amount of attention that guy needs. Anyways, I hope you can find a little company in her”. You warmly thanked her and promised to come back, finding her endearing with her babling and odd personality. You think you could definitely be good friends with the girl.

You placed your new little plant friend on the windowsill of the kitchen sink, and you were about to start cooking yourself dinner when you heard a knock. You opened it to see a now casual looking Vernon grinning at you wearing dark skinny jeans with blue vans, a dark green turtleneck and tan coat, his scarf hanging from his arm and holding a basket that looked very heavy. 

“Hello neighbor! My grandma sends some food to welcome you to our humble home, can I come in?” You stepped aside to allow him in and maybe so you could eye him a little but he doesn’t have to know. “Are we having a picnic in the middle of September?” You asked him while you saw him sorting the contents of the basket on the table. “Wouldn’t we need a garden or a park?”

“It really depends on how you look at it. Like my friend, Mingyu’s girlfriend, would say “Everywhere it’s a garden if you look at it with the right eyes” so” The smile never leaving his face, and feeling proud of how well he set the table, putting the basket on the floor “but yes, we are having a diner room picnic, shall we?”

Vernon’s grandma happened to be an amazing cook, making you traditional Korean dishes for you and her grandson to share, telling him to make you feel at home while you were staying at their building “She’s a great person, every time we have new visitors she cooks for them at least twice” he told you around a spoon full of kimchi jjigae.

“And do you barge in to the apartment to steal their food every time too?” He was easy to joke with, something that made you feel very comfortable “Na, only the cute ones, and so far, I’ve never really been into the old couples that usually stay here, so” Dammit, he got you.

After a very large meal and more bickering, Vernon excused himself, as he had a bro date with Mingyu his best friend to play video games and watch movies; who happened to be the tall boy from the caffee; a night he made Vernon reserve exclusively with around two weeks in advance “it’s so dumb how he feels the need to schedule everything, you know? He drives me and his girlfriend nuts sometimes, but we love him too much to complain” He chuckled as he shrugged on his knee length coat. 

“Hey leave the poor guy alone, you literally stained his shoes and abused him today right in front of my eyes, who knows what else he has to go through” You faked concern for his friend “Thank you by the way, for making my first dinner here better”

“You’re welcome, thank you for letting me uhh, barge in and steal your food, yeah that’s what I do” He chucked his vans on and opened the door. “I’ll see you around!”

By 9 PM you decided you had enough and surrendered to sleep, getting into the criminally comfortable bed and sleeping soundly as soon as your head hit the pillow. 

That night you dreamt of a flower garden and a funny looking cat playing on your lap.


	2. 素敵で甘い

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It continues.

Waking up early wasn’t really your thing, but considering you've been falling asleep at 9 PM like a grandma for the past two weeks, seeing it’s only 8 AM on a Saturday didn’t really bother you that much.

After what felt like the most stressful two weeks filled with meetings, conferences and boring business talk, dreaming with the pretty tulip garden and little brown kitten definitely helped to have your mood as good as it gets this early in the morning, so you got up to make yourself a nice breakfast.

Cooking had been a hobby you took to relax from the hectic life you had at the office, going to Japan last spring for a business meeting had been the main source of inspiration, making you buy about 6 cooking books from a cute little book store right in front of the hotel you stayed at, and conveniently brought the lightest one with you on this trip.

You were just about to finish the last, perfect if you may say, fluffy pancake when there was a knock at the door and a way too chirpy voice for now 9:12 AM “cooooooooffeeeee deliiveeeryyyyy”. You opened the door to a very soft looking Hansol wrapped up in a big black coat and his signature cerulean fluffy scarf. “Did somebody order a pumpkin spice latte?” He smiled at you, and invited himself in.

“Not really but I won’t complain if I get free coffee” You smiled back, seeing as he left the two large cups on the table and started unwrapping himself. “It smells really good, what are you making?” Hansol said, smelling the air like a puppy. He’d be a cute border collie. “Are those fluffy pancakes?!”

“They are, would you join me? I made way too many for some reason” You started setting the plates, his excited face was enough of an answer. “Thank you for the coffee, by the way” This had been a normal occurrence during your time there, Vernon making himself comfortable enough with you that he would constantly show up at your door with coffee, left over pastries from the café or home cooked meals his grandma sent you. For two weeks you'd spend your time talking away, never running out of things to say, making the short amount of time feel like you've known each other for years. It was odd, but it felt too nice to question it.

“No problem, Mingyu had the early shift and he makes the best pumpkin lattes, I had to bring you one. I’m glad I didn’t wake you up” He said nonchalantly, as if it wasn’t a big deal that he thought of you and decided to just drop by your apartment way too early in the morning. He took a bite of the beautifully made pancake, you were getting better at them, and you saw how his face lit up even more, then closing his eyes to savor the pastry.

“This has to be THE best pancake I have ever had in my entire life, where did you learn how to make these?!” He said between contempt noises, eating the whole pancake in two more bites that he seemed not to get enough of. “Youtube is the best teacher, I tried them in Japan earlier this year and I wanted to try to make them, a cooking book I picked up also helped” You were pleased, as if this was an achievement you were expecting.

“They’re so good, Jesus can you marry me so you can make them all the time for me?” You know he said it as a joke, but it somehow made your breath hitch, you’re very proud of yourself for not choking on the piece of pancake you were chewing on. They actually were delicious, he’s right. “Marry already? You haven’t even taken me on a date, you’re already off to a rocky start there” Yes, you didn’t stutter, good job. 

“Fair enough, let’s go on a date then” You looked at him. He didn’t look like he was joking, shit he even looked hopeful. Maybe you took a second longer to respond, so he quickly blushed “O-or I mean it doesn’t have to be a date, maybe like, you know... neighbor friends or whatever” Cute.

“So you don’t want it to be a date?” You were challenging him, and it was mean because you would definitely say yes, but you tried to ask with no bite in your tone. You couldn't deny that seeing him every day, sharing meals with him regularly and getting to know him better caused you to develop a little crush on him. His gorgeous face and breath taking smile didn't help your case at all so you just needed a little reassurance, getting your high hopes over a joke was shitty and you were sure as hell not taking the risk. Your last relationship had made you too alert.

“I...” He seemed to consider it for a moment, also taking a good breath to sense how awkward the air turned, after a few streched seconds, he smiled sweetly and looked at you, more confidently this time “I do. I know we met only a couple of weeks ago, and I don’t want to be creepy about it, but I just... I do, I would like to take you on a date, if that’s okay with you”

“I'd love to go on a date with you” As much as you were trying to look unaffected, the pleased smile and slight flush in your face gave you away. With a final smile, you both set to finish your pancakes, which were gone in 3 minutes, as Hansol claimed his eternal love for them.

“So” He said, helping you clean the table and set the dishes to be washed “How about, I take you out for dinner tonight, and then we go to a little acoustic set playing at the bar around the corner?” He was facing the sink, after he insisted it’d only be fair for him to do the dishes.

“That sounds nice, deal” You were more surprised at the fact that knowing this guy for such little time didn’t stop you from accepting to go on a date with him, than the fact that you actually said yes, if that made sense. You stood next to him to take the freshly washed dishes from him with a rag to dry and put them away. 

After more light conversation, Hansol went to his apartment to freshen up and get ready for his shift, not without thanking you for the millionth time for the pancakes because “they were seriously heavenly I can’t believe it”. You agreed to meet at 6 at the café and go on your date.

You spent the rest of your day lazing around, watching an anime your friend Yuta from work recommended. By the time you saw the clock get to 4:30, you got up to get ready. For some reason your outfit mattered a lot today, even though he has seen you in casual clothes and even in your pajamas (which, you were still in right now), making a good impression for the date was really important, so you got to work and get yourself dolled up.

It was 15 minutes before 6 when you were ready, your short hair slightly curled to make it puffier, a comfy dark gray jersey dress with black leggings, a soft red cardigan, ankle boots and a big woolen light grey coat. Your favorite scarf wrapped around your neck snuggly to fight the cold air. Also, light make up, to avoid looking like you tried too hard.

Feeling giddy enough, you went down to the café to wait for Hansol 10 minutes to 6, since the minutes seemed to be dragging too slowly at the apartment. When you reached the second floor, Hansol was entering the staircase through the door, looking too good for his own good. 

While still on the second to last step, you looked down on him and couldn’t help but just _stare_. He was wearing printed black and white pants, a black graphic shirt with red letters, black blazer and black coat thrown on, with a striped black and red scarf thrown loosely around his frame. Brown hair slicked back in a messy wave, when you snapped out of your oogling you noticed he did the same to you, but he was still not quite done staring. 

Even though neither of you were any better, you decided to take advantage and smirk, going down the remaining steps and past him with a sway of your hips “couldn’t wait to see me, huh?” You were glad you turned around, otherwise he could see how red you got and that would definitely ruin your facade.

This seemed to make him aware of his dumb fold state, always quick on his toes, catched up to you on the steps and bumped you lightly “neither could you, I see” it was his time to smirk now. Fucker.

“Honestly, I was just bored” Bickering was your way of flirting, okay. “You look really pretty, by the way” he said, not meeting your eyes. You both fell into a comfortable silence, both too shy to say anything after being practically caught staring at each other, but luckily neither of you felt awkward about it.

“Do you still want to get some coffee” He asked you, opening the door for you to pass through, and looking expectantly “I’m alright, maybe we could get going now”. Blinding you with an incredibly beautiful smile, he took your hand and walked you over to the parking lot next to the building, opening the door to his car and walking over to the driver’s seat.  
Once seated and buckled up, he turned to you with a comically serious expression “So, Miss Vivian.. Or sould I say Kim Hyeon Soo-ssi" Exaggerating his korean accent. “Oh my God shut up, I hear enough of that name during all my damn meetings, but what is it?” It was very easy to bicker with him, your sense of humor way too similar for any of you to feel offended or annoyed at each other’s remarks.

“Well, as I was saying before you rudely interrupted me for being the formal man that I am. I want to know; how do you feel about Italian food?” He turned to his serious acting. “Well, I happen to feel very passionately about Italian food” You answered as dramatically as him. This made him beam, turning on the car and drive out the parking lot.

He handed you the aux cord and as the co-pilot, he named you the designated DJ. You plugged in and set your favorite R&B playlist, letting it hum smoothly behind your chatter. The drive really didn’t take long, and it felt even shorter as you both continued to talk, him telling you that this restaurant you’ll be visiting is run by two of his friends. It had just opened last week, and he animatedly tells you how he couldn’t even fit time to go to the inauguration, and how every time he sees his friends, they both start a dramatic scene on how they’ve lost a true friend that doesn’t support their hopes and dreams.

Before you know it, you’re pulling up to the curve at a very fancy looking restaurant, decorated in white and gold, and very fancy looking valet parking waiting for them to take the car. 

As if the entrance didn’t give it away, the inside of the restaurant was just as beautiful, white pillars with wrapped around leaves, mint table tops contrasting with the white chairs and abstract chandeliers with tree shapes making the place look ethereal “This place is beautiful, your friends own it?” You asked amazed, as the host took you to a private section of the hotel and sat you down on a table with white wine already chilled.

After you sat down and were given your menus, a waiter came by to pour wine into your cups then politely bowing and promising to come by later to grab your orders. “Yeah, my friend Seokmin is a chef, he went to study to Italy for a year and fell in love with the cuisine and started working as a sous chef for a very important restaurant here, and after a while of saving, he decided to open his own kitchen” He told the story, a very fond smile on his face showing the love he has for his friends “Since our friend Jeonghan studied business, they both got to work and opened the restaurant by themselves, I’m really proud of them” He took a sip of his wine, and looked back at you almost shy for talking your ear out.

“That’s so sweet, I’m glad they made this happen. It’s wonderful” You smiled warmly, and he smiled back.

During dinner, you got to know even more about him, about how he's actually a few years younger than you, finishing his last year of college as a music production major and photography minor, and he is only staying with his grandma for a couple more months until he has to go back to school where he shares an appartment with his roommate Jihoon. This made your mind wander for a little bit while you both ate, thinking about how maybe if the city he lived in wasn't too far from yours and you could continue to see each other, but you stopped yourself from over thinking.

It wasn't long until your plates were clean, both stealing spoonfulls of pasta from each other's choice. Vernon asked for the bill, and after a small argument of how he should be paying because he invited you, even though you insisted you will pay for your half, a tall slim man with blond silky hair came over and swiftly took the bill from Vernon's hands. "Yah! You two stop bickering, nobody's paying in this restaurant, it's on the house" He stated matter of factly, leaving no room for discussion after giving you both a look that could only be described as a "mom scolding". 

"I'm Jeonghan, by the way, nice to meet you!" He streteched his equally slim hand, and gave you a beautiful smile... not as beautiful as Vernon's but what can you do. "I can't belive you're the first girl this rascal brings to meet me, wow Hansol-ah your taste is impecable, mother is impressed" This earned a giggle from you, and a groan from Vernon "Oh my God Jeonghan-hyung can you please NOT, you'll scare her away" He tried to get his friend to stop, which only caused him to laugh, as his plan to embarras him worked.

"It's a pleasure to meet you as well Jeonghan-ssi", I'm Hyeonsoo" You took his hand and bowed respectfully, back to your korean mode for a second "The food was amazing, Hansol was just telling me about how you opened this place with all your effort, congratulations" This brought a big smile to Jeonghan's face, and a bigger one to Vernon, who found it endearing seeing you praise his friend. "Woa Hyeonsoo-yah you're too kind, thank you so much! And I'll let Seokmin know the food was good" With this he bowed back and excused himself, giving you a pat in the shoulder and a bear hug to Vernon, threatning him to bring you over again so you can try the whole menu.

"Sorry if he's a little... too much, he used to live right across the street from me when I first moved from New York with my family, and adopted me as his younger brother from the moment he saw me, so we're very close" Vernon bashfully apologized once you were getting your coats on to leave. "Hey don't apologize about that! He was really sweet, I liked him"

In the car, you reclaimed your position as designated DJ, earning yet another big smile from Vernon for your choice on offonoff. During the whole evening you couldn't help but getting entranced on Vernon, seeing little quirks like how he twisted his mouth to the right a little when he was telling something funny, and how he opened his eyes really wide every time you told him an interesting story about your life. Your new found habit didn't go unnoticed by him, when during a red light, he caught your eyes looking at him, even though you've both been quiet for a moment.

"Do I have something on my face, Hyeonsoo-ssi?" He teased, turning a left on the bar's parking lot, grinning at your blushing face. He parked and turned off the car, unbuckling his belt to turn to you comfortably, you did the same and turned to look back at him, trying to think of something witty to reply, but failing in the process. "Well?" he pressed, this time trying to supress his laughter.

"Nope, your face is just cute" That was the moment you realized you no longer cared, and decided to just be honest, and if in the process you manage to get his face as red as it gets, and his eyes as wide as plates, it was totally worth it. "Shall we go then?" You smiled, although he couldn't talk to save his life, you


End file.
